Salvation and Godly Rule

The Incarnation

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Works

Lesson: The Incarnation

Genre: Speech

Track: 44

Dictation Name: RR136X44

Location/Venue:

Year: 1960’s-1970’s

Our scripture is from the Gospel according to St. John 1:12-14. Our subject: The Incarnation. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”

The incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is a unique event in all of history. It gives us a declaration of the fact that by miraculous birth, God became man, that Jesus Christ was very God of very God, and very man of very man. The purpose of the incarnation was not to divinize man, but to restore man to his God-ordained humanity. In classical Antiquity, the divinization of man was a very common doctrine. As a matter of fact, it was believed that all men could potentially become gods. The heroes were divinized men, as were the emperors.

For example, in the very lifetime of the Apostle John, the Roman emperor, Domitian, ordered the procurators to use the formula, Our master and our God bidst that this be done, wherever there was any imperial order. Roman emperors were commonly divinized after their death, and more and more of them claimed to be gods during their lifetime. The incarnation has nothing in common with this type of thinking. It tells us that the fact of the incarnation is unique. It is without any parallel. It represents one solitary event in all of history, where God became man.

Now it is interesting that, in the early church, the church fathers emphasized not so much the fact that Jesus Christ was God, that was assumed. That was taken for granted. The miracle to them was that God deigned to become man, that here was something unheard of, that the absolute, the sovereign God, deigned in his grace and mercy, to put on humanity. The whole of the New Testament reflects this awe and this wonder. The whole of the New Testament speaks of the virgin birth. There are scholars who, in their ignorance and their unbelief, have said, “We have nothing with regard to the virgin birth except what Matthew and Luke have written.” This is nonsense. Everywhere in the New Testament where there is any reference to our Lord and his birth, it is a plain statement of his virgin birth.

There are two words in the Greek which speak of coming into being. One means to be born or to be begotten. This word is only used of our Lord when it is immediately stated that he was begotten of the Father, God the Father, by the Holy Ghost. St. Matthew, for example, uses it twice. St. John uses it on a couple of occasions, but only and always when it is immediately qualified by the fact that this is a miraculous birth. In every other instance, where there is a reference to our Lord’s birth, the word for it is used means “came into being, was made, became,” and has reference in context to a miraculous creation. Thus, when St. Paul uses this word in Romans 1:3, Galatians 4:4, Philippians 2:7, and elsewhere in the New Testament, where there is a reference to our Lord’s birth, the King James Version renders it “was made.” The presupposition of every reference in scripture to our Lord’s birth is that it was a unique, miraculous event, that he was a creation of God the Father, coming into being in time, that he was the second person of the trinity, appearing through the virgin Mary.

The {?} thus, throughout the whole of the New Testament is that here we have a unique and miraculous event. This emphasis on the miraculous is again made by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45 and 47, where he speaks of our Lord as the last Adam and the second Adam. Now again, by comparing him to Adam, he is emphasizing a special creation. Adam, in the beginning, was a special creation of God. His birth was miraculous. Now in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ as the second or last Adam, again represents a miracle and a new creation. Adam, the first creation, Jesus Christ, by his virgin birth, the new creation of God.

Moreover, St. Paul in this passage not only tells us that Jesus Christ is the second Adam or the man, because Adam literally means “the man.” First you had Adam, the man, the fountainhead of the old humanity and of the old creation, and now, the last or the second man, the man, Jesus Christ, the fountainhead of the new creation, and we are told that there was a difference in their bodies. Adam was made a living soul, and the second Adam, a quickening spirit, beyond the touch of corruption that is the heritage of sin. Adam’s body, therefore, was one kind of a body and our Lord’s was another, a type of the resurrection body which shall be ours in the new creation. The descendants of the first Adam inherited death. The descendants, by faith, of the second Adam inherit eternal life, as many as have become Sons of God by the adoption of faith.”

Now, scripture speaks of this. It takes the virgin birth as a type of our rebirth. It tells us thus, that while the incarnation is a unique event in history, it is not an isolated event. It is one of a kind. It is the only virgin birth in history. It is the only instance where the word becomes flesh, where God becomes man. But while it is unique, it is not isolated because, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God (power, right, or privilege to become the sons of God), even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Now this is a very, very interesting statement. What is St. John telling us here? That the virgin birth is a type of our rebirth. Jesus Christ was born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, and even as his birth was a miracle, so our regeneration, our being born again is a miracle. It is not of the will of the flesh. It is not of our choosing. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” It was not of the will of man, but of God, and so the virgin birth sets forth the typology for all Christian regeneration. It is therefore, essentially related to every believer.

Now, let us examine the significance of this. The virgin birth, a unique event, but not an isolated event essentially related to you. It tells us something about each of us. We were not born of our will. We were dead in sins and trespasses by the miraculous power of God, not of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh, but of God, we were born again.

Now St. John then tells us, the believers, in 1 John 5:18, “that wicked one toucheth him not.” “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself,” the King James reads, or it can equally be translated and almost certainly should be translated, “Keepeth him, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” Let’s examine the significance of that. He that is begotten of God, this refers to Jesus Christ, the very Greek words here were taken and embodied in the Nicene Creed. “Begotten, not made. Of the Father, truly born but miraculously born. “He that is begotten of God keepeth him (the believer), and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

Now in what sense is it that Satan, and all of Satan’s servants can not touch the believer? This does not mean that we do not suffer in many ways at the hands of evil men. When St. John wrote those words in his first epistle, the persecutions were very real. They touched him. What did he mean then? The reference is to the Garden of Eden. We are those born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We are members now, not of the old Adam, but of the new Adam. The old Adam in Eden was touched. The word that is translated as “touched” is a very interesting word and in English, it has lost a great deal of its meaning. We still retain something of the old meaning when we say “Somebody touched me for ten.” In other words, he took something from me. The word literally means “laid hold of, adhered to.” It can mean kindled as fire, to fasten onto, to assault and to sever.” Adam, in Eden, was touched. He was laid hold of. He was severed from God. Now what St. John says of us is that because we have been born, not of the will of man, nor of the flesh, but of God, that the miracle of the virgin birth is a type of our rebirth, that it signified that we are not members of the new creation, of the new humanity. We cannot be touched. We cannot be severed from God. Satan cannot claim us, adhere us to him, cling to us and make us his own. Christ could not sin, he could not be touched. He could not be severed from God, and so it is when St. John speaks of us in his epistle, we who are born again after the pattern of the virgin birth, he says first of all, anyone who says he does not commit sin, hamatia; particular offenses, is a liar, but he says the Christian cannot sin; anomia, that is, he cannot be guilty of lawlessness. Hamatia; missing the mark, failures, shortcomings, these indeed can characterize us, not Christ, but anomia; lawlessness, the principle of radical rebellion and separation from God, this cannot characterize us, nor can abiding in sin, Hamartia, abiding in failures and shortcomings. We cannot be severed from God, and in eternity, we shall not sin at all.

In Jesus Christ, we are reestablished in our calling. We will prosper therein until the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

Thus, a great deal of what beauty at Christmas is, not only what it meant at Bethlehem, but what it continues to mean today, the miracle of the virgin birth, a unique but not an isolated event, is reenacted typically whenever any Christian is born. It declares unto us that God made a new beginning in time and in history, and that new beginning we are now a part of, by his regenerating power, that because Satan could not touch though he tried, in his supreme effort in all of history, in the temptation to deflect our Lord from his calling as the new Adam, as the man, neither can we be severed from him. “He who has begun a good work in us will continue it until the end.”

Christmas therefore, sets forth the miracle of our Lord’s birth, the miracle of our rebirth and the miracle of our perseverance unto victory in him, the assurance that we can never be touched by Satan. It is therefore, indeed a time of rejoicing, so that we can say with the saints of old to whom St. Paul wrote, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” The joyful song of the angels, therefore, should resound in our hearts every day of the year. Let us pray.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy grace and mercy has made us new creatures in Christ, and has caused us to be born again. Not of our will, not of blood nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of thee and of thy sovereign grace. Oh Lord, our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. All things praise thee. Heaven and earth resound with thy glory. Grant, Oh Lord that our hearts be lifted up in joy, in praise, in adoration. Not only in this blessed season, but all the days of our life, that we be ever mindful, that the great adversary cannot touch us, that he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world, that because thou art for us, who can be against us? Our Lord, and our God, thou hast made us very rich, bearers of all things in Jesus Christ, and we praise thee. Make us ever mindful in this season of gifts of the glory and the eternity of thy gift. In Jesus name. Amen.

Are there any questions now, first of all, with respect to our lesson or anything associated with it, connected with the Christmas story? Yes?

[Audience] What is the meaning {?} Holy Roman Empire {?}

[Rushdoony] Very good question. What is the meaning of the term Holy Roman Empire? Because it is a subject that is very closely related to the Christmas story. In the textbooks, we tend to read only that is derogatory with respect to the Holy Roman Empire and its standards, its accomplishments. After Rome fell, the church fathers began the reconstruction of civilization. William Carroll Bark, a Stanford historian, in his book Origins of the Medieval World, has said that the church fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries were the men who were the frontier thinkers of Western civilization, and that they laid the foundation for Western liberty, that everything we have today is a product of what those church fathers did. Now, the church fathers felt that Christ as king should exercise dominion over all the nations, and they developed the concept of Christendom, all the Christian nations, under Christian rule and authority, and thus it was before very long, the idea in Western Europe began to develop as another Roman Empire. The old Rome had fallen, and so they spoke of a new Rome, a new Empire, a Holy Roman Empire.

As Charlemagne was the first great ruler thereof, very much maligned in history books, a man certainly with very real faults, but a very godly man, who made as his right hand man and teacher of his family, Alcuin, who was a thoroughly evangelical church father. Charlemagne made it his policy to Christianize the pagan parts of Europe. He did an excellent job. Subsequently, the other emperors, after a few generations, such as Otto, saw themselves as men who had been called to extend the kingship of Christ throughout his realm in every area, to institute such reforms, propagate such laws as would further a Christian civilization.

Now, it would be possible to go through and say many of these emperors were far from being godly men, which is true. In fact, Fredrick II has to be called anti-Christian, but it would be much easier to point out how many of them were instrumental in furthering the cause of Christ, in reforming the church and the state, reforming education and bringing it closer to a Christian standard. The emperors moreover, of the Holy Roman Empire, were elected by all the member countries. It was not a hereditary office, so that its purpose was definitely to further the kingship of Christ, and the propagation of the gospel into every area. Its failures were real, but its accomplishments were very, very great. Now, one of the problems that the empire had to face, of course, was the Protestant Reformation. At that time, it began to falter. Charles V definitely was unwilling to take a thoroughly hostile attitude towards Luther. He felt, as the Christian emperor, it was his duty to reform the church. He felt the church needed reforming. He felt that Rome should reform. He felt that Luther had many things to say that were important and necessary. However, for various political and other reasons, he was unable to support Luther, and a break came about. The empire subsequently declined. It died in Napoleon’s day when Napoleon destroyed the Austrian power which, at that time, held the emperorship. In a sense, it had been dead for some time, but the concept still functioned in a very important degree to require both Protestant and Catholic countries within the empire a Christian standard.

After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire after 1815, a humanistic standard began to prevail, and the idea of the league of nations, and a united nations, took its place, definitely humanistic and anti-Christian to the core. So, the idea of a Holy Roman Empire was a very important one, very much misunderstood and deliberately neglected by historians as far as its Christian accomplishments and Christian character are concerned. Yes?

[Audience] {?}

[Rushdoony] Yes. How do we know we are born again? Well, the answer to that is, simply this. How do you know you are alive? Because you eat, breathe, and you function. How do you know that you have been born again? Because you eat, live, and function as a person in Christ. This is your life. You’re here because you delight in his word. You want to grow, and you grow. That’s an evidence of life, so just as I know I’m alive in Adam because I can see, eat, talk, and so on, so I know I’m alive in Christ because I am alive to him. I am functioning in terms of him. It’s that simple. By their fruits shall we know them, our Lord said. A very simple test. Doctors can tell if a person is alive or dead, so we can tell if a person is alive or dead as a person, in Christ. Yes?

[Audience] {?}

[Rushdoony] No, a Christian state is thoroughly biblical. The idea of the church and the state being united, or the one controlling the other is unscriptural. In scripture, we have a division of church and state, and you remember it was a fearful offense for Uzziah to try to function as a priest. In the Old Testament, one of the kings of Judah, Uzziah, felt that he could accomplish his reforms better. Now, notice he was saying, I have a good motive and therefore, I have a good reason for sinning. I will therefore, try to function as a priest and king at the same time, and so he attempted to officiate in the temple and he was stricken with leprosy. Now, only in Christ are the offices of priest and king combined. The trouble in our Christian history has been that too often both church and state have tried to usurp one another’s prerogatives, the church to control and run the state, or the state to control and run the church. Now, the church must be Christian and the state must be Christian, but the church must be a church, and a state must be a state. They cannot take over the functions of one another, any more than they can take over the function of education. This is a separate sphere under God. Yes?

[Audience] {?}

[Rushdoony] No, the term reincarnation is a thoroughly pagan term, common among occultists and Hindus, and others. The idea that you and I are born over and over again, physically, that supposedly we may have been Chinese in our previous birth, or Hindu in the birth before, German in the birth before, and that we’re born over and over and over again as a punishment for our sins, or our Karma, until we work out our own salvation, and then we’re dead forever. Now, some forms of the idea of reincarnation say that we are then released into some kind of heaven, but in its original form, in Buddhism and other oriental religions, it meant eternal death, because life was seen as a curse. The idea of reincarnation is anti-Christian to the core. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate anything like that. The Bible is totally hostile to such an idea. So incarnation and reincarnation are totally different concepts. Are there any other questions? Yes?

[Audience] What is your understanding of the {?} scripture {?} because there are many references to the blood of Christ {?} What is meant by {?}

[Rushdoony] Yes. That is a very, very interesting point, and a very controversial one in some circles. It isn’t at the moment but it has been. Not of blood, it means not of a bloodline, an ancestry. In other words, while he was born of the virgin Mary and of the tribe of Judah, as far as his humanity was concerned, he was also very God of very God, just as in his priesthood, he was after the order of Melchisadek, without father, without mother, and so on, meaning that his priesthood was not derived like the priesthood of Aaron, from ancestry, from blood, from a bloodline, but came directly from God as the priesthood of Melchisadek came directly from God. Now similarly, with regard to the virgin birth, in this respect it was directly from God. Now ours, too, our ancestry now is this: by our regeneration, we are severed from what we were so that we must not think of ourselves anymore as English, or French, or German, or whatever, but as Christians. By our rebirth we have been cut from our blood-tie, as far as our new humanity is concerned, and this is why in the early church and in all the rituals we find, the liturgy of the early church, I’ve found numerous examples of it, they speak of the Christian race, so that all who are Christians are now members of a Christian race. They also spoke of themselves when they are asked who they were, as members of the third race. That’s a very interesting term because in the empire, the Greeks spoke of Greeks and Barbarians. They divided humanity into two classes. There were the Greeks themselves, and all the rest were Barbarians. The Romans spoke of the Roman citizens and Barbarians. So, they divided themselves into two groups, and the Christians, whether they were Romans or Greeks, or the so-called Barbarian people, their response was, “We are members of the third race.” Very interesting term.

Now, it came out of this, that we are born, not of blood so that the key to the fact about us is not our physical ancestry from Adam, but our supernatural birth from God. Now that is the significance of the early church’s thought, and I think they were close enough to the fact that they knew exactly what St. John meant by it. It’s too bad that the term, the Christian race, has disappeared, a very interesting one. It meant that they separated themselves completely unto the new group, the new community. This is why, of course, caring for one another was so important an aspect of life in the early church. They cared for their poor. They cared for their unemployed. They cared for one another to the full extent of the word. They educated one another. They educated themselves, and there were various terms, for example, for church people. In a congregation, there would be those who were called Hearers, and those who were Learners, and so on, depending on the stages of grown in membership, their maturity, that they were members now of this new humanity. They were born not of blood, but of God, so it was a tremendously important fact and it mean, you see, they self-consciously set themselves against the rest of the world as far as their faith was concerned, and they said, “You cannot lump us with anyone else.” So that St. Paul could say “We’ll I’m born of the most aristocratic kind of heritage, as far as Israel’s concerned, and I’m a Roman citizen as well, by birth.” Yet he stresses this: that he has been called of God and is a servant of Jesus Christ. That is the thing he makes his boast in.

[Audience] {?}

[Rushdoony] The term “peculiar people” there mean, in St. Peter, unique, one of a kind, remarkable, unusual.

[Audience] {?} queer.

[Rushdoony] Yes. Well, our time is just about us, and before our benediction, I’d like to wish you all a very wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year. Let us bow our heads for the benediction.

And now go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.

End of tape.